


In This House

by MixerMonochrome



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Ruby (Steven Universe), Other, Polyamory, Sappy, They're all a happy family and I love them so much fight me, also I finally got on my computer so I can put actual tags woops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 21:43:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13690410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MixerMonochrome/pseuds/MixerMonochrome
Summary: Valentines day in the little duplex Garnet, Ruby, and Sapphire call home is at once a group effort and an individual showcase.  None of them put much stock in the idea that a single day should be reserved for extravagant declarations of love, and sprinkle it throughout the year as they see fit, but they also aren’t the types to skip out on a chance to make their significant others feel special, however overhyped the day may be.





	In This House

**Author's Note:**

> A few minutes late but have a Valentine's fic!! I am tired and wanna get this posted so much apologies if there's problems.
> 
> Edited - 2/15/18: Fixed a couple tenses and added a little more detail to the lunches. Fixed some wording as well and changed Garnet's threat because turning clothes inside out just didn't strike the right tone idk

Valentines day in the little duplex Garnet, Ruby, and Sapphire call home is at once a group effort and an individual showcase.  None of them put much stock in the idea that a single day should be reserved for extravagant declarations of love, and sprinkle it throughout the year as they see fit, but they also aren’t the types to skip out on a chance to make their significant others feel special, however overhyped the day may be.

Ruby risest earliest out of all of them, even on a normal day, so neither Garnet nor Sapphire think much of it when they wake and their spot on the bed is vacant and cold.  Ruby’s voice wafts through the floorboards anyways, along with the clank and scrape of pans and the delightful smell of coffee, so it isn’t hard to pinpoint where in the house they’ve gone.

Groggily, Sapphire and Garnet make their way downstairs.  Ruby meets them at the bottom, dressed for work and with their bag slung over their shoulder.  Their grin is bright enough to rival the sunlight rimming their hair like a halo.

“Morning.” They say, giving them both a quick peck on the cheek.  “I have to head out to work now, but there’s breakfast and coffee in the kitchen, and your lunch is in the fridge.”

“You’re a life-saver, Ruby.” Garnet returns with a grin of her own.  “Don’t know how we’d survive without you.”

Sapphire hums, still leaning half-asleep against Garnet’s side. “Remarkably less well-fed, is my guess.”

Ruby rolls their eyes, though a pleased flush rises in their cheeks, “Well  **someone** has to make sure you two remember to eat every once in a while.”  They back away towards the door gesturing with their thumb, “I really do have to go, though.  I’ll see you two this afternoon.”

Before they make it to the door, Sapphire and Garnet catch their arms and give them kisses of their own, pulling back with soft smiles.

“Happy Valentines Day, Rue.  Come home soon.” Sapphire says, and Garnet squeezes their hand before releasing.

Their smile grows magnitudes.  And they leave with an extra pep in their step.

Garnet and Sapphire make their way to the kitchen and find - Well.  A lot more food than they'd been expecting.  Their modest table holds a large spread of pancakes and assorted toppings, and there is a plate of sausages and bacon still popping warmly on the counter.  They share a grin and go to their respective chairs, and take note of the carefully piped whipped cream notes on the single, lopsided heart pancakes on each of their plates.

**Happy Valentine's Day, Girls!**

**Have Fun! Love You!!**

“I don't know how their handwriting is so much better in whipped cream than on paper.” Sapphire says, laughing lightly as she reaches for the pot of coffee.  Garnet tactfully doesn't comment on the surreptitious way she wipes at her eyes.  “This looks like something out of a calligraphy book.”

“They've always been full of surprises.”  Garnet agrees, then pulls out her phone and takes a picture of the spread.  “Now, we can't let all their hard work go to waste.”  She grins, and Sapphire passes the coffee pot to her next, finishing her own cup with astounding speed.

“Let’s eat.”

//\\\//\\\//

After the last of breakfast has been cleared and packed away, Garnet and Sapphire grab their lunches.

They’re not sure how Ruby managed it, but packed neatly into tupperware containers are meals that send whirls of nostalgia through their lungs.  They both briefly remember a conversation - months ago it must have been - where Ruby had carefully steered the conversations to fondly remembered dishes, the intense concentration in their expression making more sense now.  How long had it taken them to track down the right recipe and perfect it to their satisfaction?

This time, it's Garnet’s turn to quietly wipe budding tears away.  It's been years since she’s tasted it, but she’d be damned if that first stolen bite on the way to work didn't taste like home.

Sapphire sends them both a text at lunch, a picture of her on the roof of her work, captioned: Finally found a place I can eat without someone trying to steal my food.

//\\\//\\\//

When Ruby gets home, they’re surprised to see Garnet’s shoes already by the doorway.  They’re usually the first one to leave in the morning and the first one to get back in the afternoon, and while Garnet beating them home  _ has  _ happened before, she usually lets them know beforehand.

She hadn’t mentioned anything this morning, though, and Ruby isn’t sure whether to be excited or anxious.

“Garnet?” They ask, voice raised as they slip off their own shoes and shuck their jacket onto the banister, “Everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine!” Garnet replies, voice coming from the direction of their living room.  Usually, they’re able to see it from the door at the right angle, but as they crane their head now they realize the entryway seems to be covered by… a blanket?  They boggle as Garnet continues,  “Welcome home!  Don’t come in here yet.  It’s not done.”

A grin worms its way onto Ruby’s face as they catch an inkling of what’s going on.  They begin moving ever so slowly towards the blanket barrier.

“What’s not done?” They ask, and can’t keep the grin out of their voice.

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” Garnet’s answer comes quick and firm, and it’s vague as shit, but it gives Ruby all the answer they need.  Their stomach flutters and they hum with mock consideration.

“ **_Weeell_ ** if it’s for me to find out, then I guess I’ll just try to take a little- “ They’d inched closer to the blanket as they spoke, and they were casually nudging the blanket out of the way - head turned to make sure they don’t actually see anything - when Garnet makes an indignant sound.

“Oh no you don’t!” She says, and the blanket billows up in a furious motion.  The hallway tilts, and Ruby’s gut makes an impressive attempt to go into orbit as Garnet scoops them into her arms.  Garnet laughs at the small squeak that Ruby most definitely does  **not** make, and plants a kiss into their hair as she sets them back down next to the stairs.  “I told you, it’s not ready yet.”

Ruby laughs, a little breathless, and shrugs, “What can I say?  The air of mystery is just too irresistible.”

Garnet’s customary shades are off, so Ruby doesn’t miss the indulgent roll of her mismatched eyes as she ruffles their hair into even more chaos.  “You can wait until Sapphire comes home or I’ll dog-ear a page of every book in the house.”

Ruby gasps, only partially exaggerating, “You  **wouldn’t** .”

“Try me.”

That glint in Garnet’s eyes is the kind not to be tested, Ruby decides, and they punch her shoulder lightly.  “Fine! Fine!” They grin lopsidedly and turn away to start up the stairs.  “I’m going to our room.  Call me when I can come down from my tower of shame.”

They can almost hear Garnet roll her eyes again as she returns to the living room, and they throw themself onto the somewhat overly-stocked bed with an inaudible poof and giddy laugh.  When they collect themself again, they whip out their cell phone and shoot out a quick message to Sapphire, then open a nice time-wasting game and settle in to wait.

//\\\//\\\//

When Sapphire makes it home about an hour later, she appears, mysteriously enough, at the back door instead of the front, and Ruby stifles her snickers at the sound of alarmed scrambling as Garnet tries to shoo her out the door before she sees anything substantial.

//\\\//\\\//

Garnet stares down at the two of them with a raised eyebrow, arms crossed.  Sapphire and Ruby share nearly identical faux-innocent expressions as they stare back up at her.

“You should both be ashamed of yourselves.”  Garnet says, breathing heavily through her nose, “I’m going to go grey at thirty and it’ll be all your fault.”

They glance at each other, expressions wobbling with the attempt to keep them in check, before giving in and breaking out into wide grins.

“I think you’d look very nice in grey, ‘Net.” Sapphire intones.

“The best.” Ruby agrees, “I think it's a trend right now anyways, so you’d fit right in.”

Garnet’s stern expression falls off like snow melting as she laughs, “ **Not** the point, but I’ll take it.”  She shakes her head and brushes past the blanket.  “Get your snarky butts in here.”

They both follow her in and stop short, breath temporarily stolen.  The living room is dusky, the lights inset in the ceiling covered by thin, colored paper to diffuse the light and give it a cherry tone.  The furniture is all pushed to the sides of the room, small clouds of smoke hang close to the floor, and an assortment of small strobe lights flash off the smoke in technicolor blends.

What stirs their memories most, though, are the faded posters along the walls.  They turn as one to Garnet, eyes wide, and she gives a bashful grin.

“This is -” Sapphire starts, but the words lodge in her throat.

“Where we met, yeah.”  Garnet admits, “I couldn't take you two to the Sky Arena proper, for obvious reasons.  So I settled for the next best thing.”

She walks to one side of the room, the smoke clinging to her as she leaves, and turns on a radio.  A pulsing baseline begins, familiar and nostalgic, and Garnet weaves her way back to them.  Her hands reach out, multicolored lights flash against her silhouette, and the smoke eddies around her in time with the music.

“Dance with me?”

//\\\//\\\//

The three of them lay in a heap on the couch.  A tangle of limbs and hair and butterfly kisses.  The lights are off and the smoke has cleared out, leaving only the light of the moon streaming in through a now uncovered window.

Sapphire is the first to sit up, leaning over to press a last kiss on either of their foreheads.  “Thank you for today, you two.  It was perfect.  But as much as I’d like to stay here all night, we still have work tomorrow.”  A duet of groans does little to mitigate the truth of the statement, and Garnet and Ruby soon follow her lead and sit up as best they can.

“Alright, I call dibs on center tonight.”  Ruby says with a yawn, rubbing at their eyes.  “I don't have to go in until late tomorrow, so I want to sleep in a little.”

“Fair enough,” Garnet concedes, “Maybe  **we’ll** try to make  **you** breakfast this time.  It won't compete, of course, but it's the thought that counts.”

Sapphire laughs, “Enough of that, you two.  We aren't going to bed yet.”

Two pairs of eyes blink owlishly at her, and then at each other.

“We… aren't?”  Ruby ventures to ask, eyebrows nearly meeting over their eyes.  “But you just said - “

“I have one last thing I want to do today.”  Sapphire says, and she delights in the way their faces light up.  She slides off the couch and beckons them towards the back porch.  “Come on, this shouldn't take long.”

They scramble after her, and when they've all stepped out under the canopy of sky, Sapphire pulls out three little placards from behind their dinged up grill.  “I'm not sure if we’ll be able to see them from here, but I got all of us these.”

After a brief glance at the things in her hands, she passes them out and cranes her head to survey the sky, searching for -

“You bought us  **stars?** ” Ruby asked, voice high and strained in disbelief.  “Sapph what in the world?”

“They're not in the world actually.”  She replies absently, still searching the stars, “Quite the opposite, in fact.”

“You know what I mean!” Ruby sputters, and Garnet manages to semi-successfully disguise her laughter as a brief coughing fit.

“There.”  Sapphire says, pointing to a cluster of faded stars near the far right edge of Cancer constellation.  “Yours is in that cluster somewhere.”  She throws Ruby a playful grin, “I named it Eternal Flame.”

Ruby blushes deep, “What, that old nickname?”

Sapphire laughs, “Well Ruby was already taken, and what better name for a literal burning ball of gas in space?”  She quickly pinpoints another, brighter glimmer of light and alters the path of her arm.  “That one’s yours, Garnet.  Right between Aquarius and Capricorn.”

“Brewing Storm.” Garnet mutters, peering up with something like awe.  Sapphire nods, and takes a while longer to find the last star.

“And there’s mine.”  She points to another faint light, between Libra and Virgo.  “Flash Freeze.”

“This is… They’re beautiful, Sapphy.  Thank you.”  Ruby says, and they come up behind her and wrap strong arms around her waist, planting a small kiss on her neck.  “Can I ask why though?”

Sapphire's smile is soft when she answers, “As much as I'd love to think we'll be able to spend every single night right next to each other, it's not reasonable.”  Garnet joins the hug, and Sapphire leans into their combined strength.  “But we've gone stargazing so much together, and I thought, maybe, if we each had a star…  It could almost be like seeing each other.  Even if we can't have the real thing right then.”

Ruby makes a pleased sound hugging her closer, and Garnet kisses the crest of her ear.

“You put a lot of thought into this.”  She says, and rests her chin atop Sapphire’s head.  It’s not a question, but Sapphire nods all the same. “Thank you.”

“No, thank  **you.** The entire day has been spectacular.” Sapphire shoots back, and begins to disentangle herself from the group.  “Now let’s get to bed.  I think Ruby is about to fall asleep on my shoulder.”

“‘M  **not** .” They argue, leaning back and squinting blearily.  “Jus’ resting my eyes.”

Sapphire and Garnet laugh and usher Ruby inside, and overhead three newly named stars wink and flicker in the night.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I tried to edit this a bit and still have 0 clue what to change the star names to so they're staying for now


End file.
